Air-preheater for furnaces.



No. 807,683.- I PATENTED DEC. 19, 1905. A. NEWTON. AIR PREHEATER FOR FURNACES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 29, 1905.

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A. NEWTON.

AIR PREHEATER FOR FURNACES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 29. 1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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A. NEWTON. AIR PREHEATER FOR FURNACES. APPLICATION FILED MAY 29. 1905.

3 SKEETS-SHBIIT 3.

Inventor .llttorney ABRAHAM NEWTON, OF XENIA, OHIO.

AIR-PREHEATEF! FOR FURNACES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 19, 1905.

Application filed May 29, 1905. Serial No. 262,816.

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ABRAHAM NEWTON, of Xenia, in the county of Greene, State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Air-Preheaters for Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

, My present invention has for its object means of preheating air within a furnace and of directing and distributing the same to the interior of the furnace at such points and in such amounts as to efficiently accomplish therein the entire consumption of the smoke and other products of combustion.

My invention is especially adapted for the quick preheating of considerable amounts of air without appreciably reducing the temperature of any part of the furnace and without involving an elaborate and special construction of furnace-walls to provide for chambers or passages. In fact, my invention in its principal features may be readily introduced into a completed furnace of almost any type without necessitating material alteration of the furnace.

My invention is, however, particularly adapted for use in connection with a furnace of the type set forth in my Patent'No. 631,091, granted August 15, 1899. In this patent I have disclosed a type of what is known as the checker-work combustion-chamber, consisting, briefly, of a checker-work of superposed refractory tiles or members arranged to provide a ready passage therethrough in every direction of the burning gases and adapted to be heated by such gases to incandescence, whereby not only is the smoke more thoroughly consumed than otherwise by reason of contact with the tiles, but the temperature of the furnace itself is maintained more constant by the presence within it of this I highly-heated body. I have conceived that just as such checker-work arrangement is useful for highly heating furnace-gases coming in external contact therewith, so it must be equally eflicient as a preheater of air in it that is to say, by providing the tiles composing the checker-work structure with internal assa es and b T roviding suitable air-feeders to and from said passages any air forced through the same must be quickly heated to a high degree of temperature.

My invention consists, therefore, of a structure within the furnace combustion-chamber composed of hollow bars and of means or feeders for supplying the air to said bars and of receiving and distributing the air after its passage through the same. The feeders constitute a unique and important feature of my invention and consist, briefly, of hollow blocks of refractory material laid, preferably, upon the furnace bridge-walls and having top and bottom openings for communication with the ports of air-chambers within the walls and having side openings for communication with the hollow heaterbars. These blocks are superposed, as hereinafter to be described, to form uninterrupted vertical air-passages from the air-ports in the bridge-walls, and these vertical passages are intercepted at different elevations by the passages of the heater-bars.

My invention may of course, as hereinafter shown, be used in connection with various known furnace preheating and distributing systems as auxiliary thereto or for special reasons that may arise. It is also evident that the air-feed to the preheating-bars need not be by way of hollow bridge-walls, but may be from the furnace side or back walls or through any special structure and that the block-and-tile connection may be varied in accordance.

Having set forth the object and nature of my invention, I will now describe in detail an embodiment of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in crosssection, of a furnace of ordinary type equipped with my air-preheater. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view in end elevation, taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged view, in cross-sectional side elevation, of the preheater shown in Fig. l and taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4: is a plan view in cross-section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the hollow bars indicated at I in Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the hollow feeder-blocks indicated at S in Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, the furnace shown is of the ordinary fire-tube steam-boiler type, the boiler being indicated at A, the firebox and ash-pit at C and P, respectively, and the bridge-walls at D and F, with the combustion-chamber between them.

At G is the return-passage to the fire-tubes w, and at H the stack.

The furnace-walls B, as well as the bridge walls D and F and the grate-bars G, are all shown as hollow. Such hollow structure of these elements is, however, not in itself of my invention; but since a furnace thus constructed is peculiarly adapted for use in connection with my invention I have so shown and described it.

The chamber Q of the bridge-wall F is in communication by way of passage R with the outer air. This passage is controlled by a damper for determining the draft of air therethrough. The chamber Q of the bridge-wall D is by means of passages b in communication with the chambers a of the grate-bars G and these in turn by openings 0 with the ashpit. The chamber Q is also directly in communication with the ash-pit by passages (Z and with the fire-box by passages e. The chambers L of the walls B are in communication with the chambers Q and Q of the bridgewalls F and D and with the ash-pit and firebox by means of passages it and g.

Coming now to that part of the structure forming the substance of my invention and referring to Fig. 5, there is shown a hollow block S, of refractory material, having in one side face an opening at, in the bottom an opening 0, and in the top thereof, except of the top block, a similar opening 9. Referring to Fig. 3, there are shown series of such blocks superposed and resting upon the bridgewalls D and F over the chambers Q and Q to form uninterrupted air-passages upwardfrorn said chambers as far as the closed top of the top block. At the bottom of the combustionchamber and at about the level of the top of the bridge-walls are cross-pieces K, supported by furnace-walls B. Resting at either end on these supports are hollow refractory members I. These are arranged end to end to form continuous bars over the supports K, the ends of which bars are fitted within and supported by blocks S on the bridge-walls. These bars extend from wall D to wall F across the supports K in suitably-spaced parallel lines. Above the supports K and resting end to end on the members I in lines transverse thereto is a set of other refractory members J. Upon these and disposed after the manner of the.first set of members I is another set of hollow members, the bars of which likewise terminate in the openings at of the blocks S. In this way the checkerwork is built up to any desired height. The passages m of the members I of the checkerwork when the latter are jointed as described form continuous passages through the combustion-chamber opening into the vertical passages in the blocks S over the bridge-walls. Sets of continuous air-passages are thus provided between the air-chambers Q and Q, whereby the air entering Qthrough the passage B may be delivered to the chamber Q and thence to the ash-pit and fire-box by the openings hereinbefore mentioned.

I have shown my invention as embodied in the checker-work structure of my aforementioned patent, the hollow tiles or members I of the present structure corresponding to the longitudinally arranged members of the checker-work of the old structure and the tiles or members J to the crosswise or laterally-arranged members of said old checker-work. It is apparent, however, that for the purpose of the present invention the arrangement or design of the refractory checker-work need not be that shown in the drawings and just described. Itis also evident that instead of providing the longitudinal tiles only with air passages the cross-tiles may be similarly constructed and that instead of connecting such hollow cross-tiles or, in fact, any of the hollow tiles with chambers in the bridge-walls they may be connected with the chambers in the side walls or with any suitably-arranged air receiving and distributing passages.

In operation it is to be noticed that the air entering at the passage R is in its passage through the checker-work to the chamber Q thoroughly subdivided and is quickly and highly heated by the burning gases passing through the checker-work in the opposite direction. The air by means of its entry into the fire-box and ash-pit from the chamber Q at practically the temperature of the furnace effects, upon mixture with the smoke and gases, a most thorough combustion of the latter in the combustion-chamber.

The air-supply through the hollow side walls is merely supplementary to the supply through the checker-work. The air reaching the firebox through the latter is by reason of its subdivided condition and more intimate association with the burning gases more quickly and highly heated than such air as passes by way of the side walls and is therefore the more important source of air-supply.

I claim as my invention 1. A furnace air-preheater comprising in combination within the furnace combustionchamber, hollow members of refractory ma terial arranged to provide through passage between them for the burning gases, and connected to provide uninterrupted air-passages through them, and air-feeds to and from said members to deliver and distribute air to and from the same.

2. A furnace air-preheater comprising in combination within the furnace combustionchamber, hollow members of refractory material arranged in checker-work fashion, to provide passage between them for the burning gases, and connected to provide uninterrupted air-passages through them, and air- IIO feeds to and from said members to deliver and distribute air to and from the same.

8. A furnace air-preheater comprising ir. combination within the furnace, bridge-walls, hollow members of refractory material within the combustion-chamber, mounted upon the bridge-walls and arranged to provide passage between them for the burning gases, and connected to provide uninterrupted air-passage:

through them, and air-feeds to and from said members to deliver and distribute air to and from the same.

4. A furnace air-preheater comprising in combination within the furnace,hollow bridgewalls, hollow members of refractory material within the combustion chamber, mounted upon the bridge-walls and arranged to provide passage between them for the burning gases, and to provide uninterrupted air-passages through them, and air-feeds to and from said members to air-chambers within the bridgewalls to deliver and distribute air to and from the preheater.

5. A furnace air-preheater comprising in combination within the furnace combustionchamber, hollow members of refractory material arranged in checker-work fashion to provide passage between them for the burning gases, and connected to provide uninterrupted air-passages through them, hollow bridgewalls, and air-feeds to and from said refractory members to air-chambers within the bridge-walls to deliver and distribute air to and from the preheater.

6. A furnace air-preheater comprising in combination within the furnace combustionchamber, hollow members of refractory material arranged to provide passage between them for the burning gases, and connected to provide continuous closed air passages through them, an air-feed to said members from the outer air, and air-feeds from said members to the fire-box and ash-pit.

7. A furnace air-preheater comprising in combination within the furnace combustionchamber, hollow members of refractory material arranged to provide through-passage between them for the burning gases, and connected to provide uninterrupted air-passages through them, hollow blocks in communication with said refractory members at either end of said passage, and air-feeds to and from said blocks.

8. A furnace air-preheater comprising in combination within the furnace combustionchamber, hollow members of refractory material arranged to provide passage between them for the burning gases, and connected to provide continuous closed air passages through them, hollow blocks at either end of said passages in communication with each other to form other uninterrupted passages and in communication with the passages in the refractory members, and air-feeds to and from said blocks.

9. A furnace air-preheater comprising in combination within the furnace combustionchamber, hollow members of refractory material arranged to provide passage in several directions between them for the burning gases, and connected to provide uninterrupted passages through them,columns of intercommunieating blocks at either end of said passages to form other passages in communication with the passages in the members aforesaid.

10. A furnace air-preheater comprising in combination within the furnace combustionchamber, hollow members of refractory material arranged to provide passage between them for the burning gases, and connected to provide uninterrupted air-passages through them, hollow blocks in communication with said refractory members at either end of said passages, hollow bridge-walls supporting said hollow blocks and in interior communication therewith, air-feeds to and from said hollow walls.

11. In a furnace air-preheating equipment, hollow bridge-walls, hollow blocks of refractory material supported upon the bridge-walls and upon each other, and arranged to form inclosed passages communicating with the interior of the bridge-walls, a checker-work of hollow members supported within the combustion-chamber, certain of said members fitted into the hollow blocks aforesaid, and all of said members so arranged as to provide passages for air from the interior of one bridge-wall to the interior of the other, an air-inlet to one bridge-wall, and air-outlets from the other of said walls to the fire.

12. In a furnace air-preheating equipment, hollow bridge-walls, hollow blocks of refractory material supported upon the bridge-walls and upon each other, and arranged to form inclosed passages communicating with the interior of the bridge-walls, a checker-Work of hollow members supported within the combustion-chamber, certain of said members in engagement with hollow blocks aforesaid, and all of said members so arranged as to provide passages for air from the interior of one bridge-wall to the interior of the other, an airinlet to one bridge-wall, and air-outlets from the other of said walls to the fire.

In witnesss whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ABRAHAM NEWTON.

Witnesses:

HORACE SABIN, Moms DELOE GARRIsoN. 

